The man accused of helping two young men evade arrest after a double murder on Sawtooth Road north of Macclenny nearly two years ago confessed June 19 to committing the murders himself, according to recently filed statements by District Attorney Brian Kramer in local district court Wednesday.
Court records this week show that 26-year-old Robert M. Trueblood, who was accused of destroying evidence to help Curtis P. Austin, 17, and Waylon J. Hannah, 20 – both former Doyle Williamson Road residents and are charged with first-degree murder about a year ago in the July 30, 2022 shooting deaths of James “Bo” M. Thomas, 49, and David D. Sigers, 54, at their Steel Bridge Road residence two summers ago – said he threatened to harm the younger suspects and/or their family members if they spoke about his role in the murders.
When interviewed about six months after the double murder in early 2023, Trueblood said he helped dispose of clothing and weapons after the murders but was not involved in the shootings.
Trueblood’s confession to the killings this month prompted prosecutors on June 26 to release so-called “Brady materials” in the pending murder cases against Austin (15 at the time of the shooting) and Hannah (then 18), but also in Trueblood’s case related to suspected destruction of evidence. Brady materials are required when the state discovers evidence that could potentially lead to the exoneration of defendants.
Pretrial hearings are scheduled for July 18 at 1 p.m. in the three cases related to the double murder that shocked the community in August 2022.
A spokesman for District Attorney Brian Kramer’s office said June 27 that because of the new confessions this year, prosecutors could still file changes to the charges against the three defendants between now and the July 18 hearing.
Brady memos show Trueblood was being held in the county jail when he asked to speak to Detective David Mancini on June 13. He said through a messaging system that it was urgent and about his case. A week later, the detective received the request and met with the inmate, who agreed to enter a guilty plea if he could smoke a cigarette first, the memos show.
On June 19, while outside with two detectives, he asked them if they could guarantee him a prison sentence of 25 to 30 years. They replied that they could not, but that they would be willing to testify to his cooperation in the case to the prosecutor and/or the judge. After smoking, Trueblood was led into an interrogation room where he made a two-page written statement, which he read to the detectives.
“…He said he was the one who killed ‘Bo’ Thomas and Daniel Sigers, and that Curtis Austin and Waylon Hannah had no involvement other than helping him get rid of the guns,” the statements state. “The letter detailed Trueblood’s motive for the murders and the sequence of events at the time of the murders in the victims’ home.”
“Trueblood claimed he threatened Austin and Hannah and their families with violence if they said anything about the murders he committed.”
The Brady notices continued: “It should be noted that most, if not all, of Trueblood’s statements in the interview and/or letter were previously made by Waylon Hannah in a recording that was presented as evidence and also transcribed by (Detective Brad Dougherty) in a previously written report in the full incident report. Trueblood insisted that the statement he wrote was truthful.”
The State filed notices of disclosure consisting of “the full case report” on April 17 and “records (and) transcripts of records” four days earlier.
According to Hannah’s arrest report, autopsies and investigations revealed that Thomas had been shot 16 times with a .22-caliber rifle and Sigers had been shot two times with a 9-millimeter bullet in the chest and head.
When Trueblood confessed to his complicity in the murders during his interrogation in January 2023, he said Austin and Hannah shot Thomas multiple times with .22-caliber rifles, and then Hannah shot Sigers with a 9-millimeter pistol as he pleaded for his life.
After the 2022 murders, he reportedly sold four rifles and shotguns, including six long guns, stolen from the crime scene for $300 to a buyer who later confirmed the purchase and returned the stolen weapons. Trueblood said he disposed of additional evidence in a pond near a home he shared with an ex-girlfriend in St. George, Georgia.
A meth pipe was seized at the scene, and another pipe, as well as a piece of clothing and a cell phone, were recovered from the pond by authorities following a search in early 2023.
The ex-girlfriend reportedly said in January 2022 that Austin and Hannah were shirtless in her apartment after the murders with firearms they needed to get rid of, and told Trueblood at the time how they committed the murders. However, she said she never saw the firearms.
“We have ballistics evidence linking the 9mm weapon we recovered to the murders,” Detective Mancini said on June 27. “Since my addendum, we also have additional evidence supporting the belief that Trueblood lied to us in the interview. Additional charges against him are pending.”
Joel Addington
editor
